The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is inching closer to launch by the day, with the remaster of the sky-bound adventure slated to hit shelves later this month. With the re-release almost in players' hands, Nintendo has uploaded a brand new trailer to celebrate its imminent release, offering another look at the earliest adventure in The Legend of Zelda timeline.
Titled "A Hero Rises," the promo does a great job at setting up Link's journey, getting new and returning players excited to hop into Skyward Sword HD. Along the way, it also offers a closer look at what's changed in the Nintendo Switch port, displaying its enhanced resolution and higher frame rate.
The clip opens on the inciting incident of Skyward Sword's plot, as Zelda is lost to the world below Skyloft and Link ventures out on a quest to save her with the Master Sword in tow. It's followed by a dive into some gameplay, showing Link flying on the back of his Loftwing, battling through various dungeons, and going head to head with an array of iconic Legend of Zelda enemies. One section even shows off the boss battle that lies at the end of the Lanayru Mining Facility dungeon, as Link takes on the giant scorpion known as Moldarach.
The trailer also offers some brief glimpses at the antagonistic forces at play in Skyward Sword, focusing on Link's encounters with the villainous Ghirahim and his run-ins with The Imprisoned. Overall, it serves as a love letter to the 2011 game and a reminder of why players should jump back in when it returns to Nintendo Switch on July 16.
In a clip that debuted last week, Nintendo revealed the Skyward Sword HD's quality of life updates, noting that it features several fan-requested changes. Fi no longer automatically interrupts the player to give them advice, which was a significant complaint levied at the original version, while picking up an item Link has already discovered no longer repeats its description.
Other changes include the ability to fast-forward dialogue exchanges, skip cutscenes, and auto-save. Players will be able to change control schemes too, opting for either motion controls or a new button-based control scheme. Considering Skyward Sword is regarded as a divisive game in the series, it'll be interesting to see whether the changes win over its detractors.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is launching on July 16 for Nintendo Switch.